FIDDLER ON THE ROOF!

BOCK & HARNICK: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
At Merkin Concert Hall, Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 11:00am
*special appearance by Sheldon Harnick

New York, NY, 2/07/08—The Theater Wing of the Kaufman Center presents Broadway Playhouse – BOCK & HARNICK: FIDDLER ON THE ROOF on Sunday, February 24 at 11 am at the newly renovated Merkin Concert Hall. Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick wrote seven classic musicals, including the immortal Fiddler On the Roof, which tells the story of Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman in tsarist Russia. By turns both humorous and touching, Fiddler is full of hit songs (“Sunrise, Sunset,” “Matchmaker,” “If I Were A Rich Man”) and oversized, vibrant characters. Lyricist Sheldon Harnick will make a special appearance to discuss his work and answer questions from children in the audience.
The show will revolve around Fiddler, but will also include songs from Fiorello, The Apple Tree, The Rothschilds and She Loves Me. The company will include Jason Robinson, Kathryn Markey and Erica Schroeder, with Jihwan Kim as musical director.

Broadway Playhouse introduces a new generation to the classics of musical theater in a fun and engaging setting. Hosted by Sean Hartley, the concerts feature sing-a-longs, interactive games, fun facts, musical medleys and a fully staged mini-musical featuring the delightfully zany Broadway Playhouse Players. Concerts are geared toward elementary school children but are sure to delight the whole family.

About Sheldon Harnick
Born and raised in Chicago, Sheldon Harnick began studying the violin while in grammar school. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University School of Music in 1949. Though his focus had been the violin, he eventually decided to try his luck in New York City as a theatrical lyricist.

His first song in a Broadway show, "The Boston Beguine" for New Faces Of 1952, introduced theatergoers to the wry, subtle humor and deft wordplay indicative of a Harnick lyric. Over the next several years he contributed lyrics or whole songs to such vintage revues as John Murray Anderson's Almanac, The Shoestring Revue and The Littlest Revue.

In 1956, Harnick joined up with fellow BMI composer Jerry Bock and the pair began writing their own musicals, resulting in such award winning works as The Body Beautiful (1958), Fiorello! (1959), She Loves Me (1963), and the 1964 musical masterpiece, Fiddler on the Roof.

Other collaborations over the years include A Christmas Carol (1981), Free to Be...You and Me (1974), Rex (1976), Sutter’s Gold (1980) and Dragons (1984). He has provided English-language librettos for classical operas and oratorios like Lehar's The Merry Widow (1977) and Georges Bizet's Carmen (1981), and provided translations for such musicals as La Tragedie De Carmen (1984), Ghetto (1986) and Cyrano (1993). His original opera librettos include Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines (1975), Love in Two Countries (1991), and The Phantom Tollbooth (1995).
About Sean HartleySean Hartley is the director of Kaufman Center’s Theater Wing and Artistic Director of Broadway Close Up, Broadway Playhouse and The Poppy Seed Players. He was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics for the Off-Broadway musical Cupid and Psyche, written with composer Jihwan Kim, and won a Spirit Award for Best Book of a Musical for Little Women, written with Kim Oler and Alison Hubbard. His new musical Snow was recently awarded ASCAP’s Harold Arlen Award. His television credits include songs for The Book of Pooh and Bear in the Big Blue House.

Kaufman Center’s 2008 season of BROADWAY PLAYHOUSE continues with the genius of Lerner & Lowe: My Fair Lady on Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 11am to end the season.

About Merkin Concert HallRenowned for its acoustics, accessibility and innovative programming, the recently renovated Merkin Concert Hall is the recipient of multiple awards including Adventurous Programming from ASCAP/Chamber Music America in 2002–03. The Hall is a division of the Kaufman Center, which also includes the Lucy Moses School (a community arts school) and the Special Music School (a New York City public school for musically gifted children, P.S. 859). A not-for-profit organization founded in 1952, the Kaufman Center occupies its own facility, the award-winning Goodman House, located in Manhattan’s Lincoln Square arts district. The Center is an unsurpassed cultural resource where people of all ages can experience the joy of artistic creation, expression and appreciation.

Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 11:00 AM
129 W. 67th St. (between Broadway and Amsterdam)Single tickets are $20 day of / 3-concert subscription $45 / $15 family rate for 3 or more tix to a single concertCall the Box Office at

212 501 3330
or order at http://www.kaufman-center.org